Cornell girls will cheer for Fort Cherry now

Saturday

NORTH FAYETTE TWP. -- The Fort Cherry girls basketball team entered the gym at West Allegheny with an impressive fan base.

It left with an even bigger fan base after the Rangers trounced Cornell 60-26 in WPIAL Class A quarterfinal action.

"I told the girls in the locker room that we all became fans of Fort Cherry now," said Cornell coach Shawn Urbano. "They're a great team and they're very capable of winning the WPIAL."

If Fort Cherry can win the title, Cornell would qualify for the PIAA playoffs. Otherwise, the Raiders' season is over. Fort Cherry made the eventual outcome obvious with a 35-7 lead in the game's first 14 minutes.

"We missed way too many easy shots and made way too many turnovers," Urbano said. "I told the team if we made over 15 turnovers, we'd have a tough time winning."

In fact, Cornell committed 26 turnovers and made only eight field goals. Fort Cherry's Carolena Gasbarro, a senior, had nine field goals. Bekah Bellhy, also a senior, had eight. Cornell, on the other hand, starts just one senior - Brittany Hines.

"Fort Cherry is a very senior-oriented team and there was nothing we could do to replicate their defense in practice," Urbano said. "We're young and not nearly as experienced."

But, if Fort Cherry can help, the Raiders could yet get some more experience this season.

The Raiders were led in scoring by junior Mason DePetro with nine points.

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